Monday, March 10, 2003

Democrats call for more accountability in NSW Govt

The New South Wales Democrats are calling for more accountability in the state Government.

The Democrats have accused the NSW Government of running a planning system more at home in a totalitarian system than a democracy.

Democrats upper house MP, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, made the accusation while launching a policy calling for more accountability in state government.

The Democrats have launched a five-point plan which they say would end government secrecy, ban lucrative consultancies for departing ministers, overhaul politician's entitlements, protect whistleblowers and ensure government jobs are awarded on merit.

Dr Chesterfield-Evans says the state planning system is open to corruption because governments are morally obliged to make decisions which benefit political donors.

"Obviously if someone merely takes money and they say 'this won't influence my decision,' that is not inherently corrupt," Dr Chesterfield-Evans said.

"But of course it puts the person in a morally-obliged position to the donor.

"They then have difficulty saying 'no' and I think it also means that the wealthy get access to the Minister as they're giving the money at those donor functions.

"The model I want is the New Zealand model where the government has to prove that a document has to be kept secret.

"In other words all documents are... instead of them being all secret unless you prise one out with Freedom of Information, it's the other way around: all documents are public unless you apply to have it kept secret.

The Democrats are fielding a total of 75 candidates in the New South Wales Election - 56 in the Legislative Assembly and 19 in the Legislative Council.

By Keepthe Bastards Honest 10 March 03

THE ELEPHANT: I remember! You don't have to be a mouse to know that people who investigate themselves like police are always going to be bias and corrupt. The Government is the problem!

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